Fincantieri Marinette Marine receives grant to deepen harbor

Fincantieri Marinette Marine received a $5 million grant to create additional depth in its harbor to provide the necessary room for the manufacturer to build larger vessels.

The $5 million grant comes from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s 2019 Harbor Assistance Program, which awarded a total of $7.2 million for five harbor maintenance and improvement projects around Wisconsin. The award to Marinette Marine was the largest one made during the 2019 grant cycle.

The $5 million will be used to dredge 20,000 cubic yards of soft sediment and 10,000 cubic yards of hard sediment to create more depth in Marinette Marine’s harbor. The dredging is part of the marine manufacturer’s three-year, multiphase $100 million shipyard improvement project to accommodate the construction of larger vessels.

Elsewhere in the New North, St. Marys Cement Inc. in Brown County received a $103,100 grant through the Harbor Assistance Program to replace a failed bollard. St Marys delivers 52,000 tons of cement annually to the Green Bay terminal. The repair will prevent loads from being diverted to Manitowoc and unnecessary wear on highways since trucks need to return the cement to Green Bay.